Political dissent has been a staple of American history. The Sons of Liberty spilled 46 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis led thousands, on foot, from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Marsha P. Johnson and hundreds of gay and transgender women and men fought for their right to exist in the heart of Greenwich Village.

On Saturday, close to 3 million women, children, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, members of the LGBTQIA community, Native Americans, and disabled people took to the streets of Washington, D.C., and other cities across the nation to participate in what is already being hailed as the biggest organized march in U.S. history: the Women’s March on Washington.

In a sea of 500,000 poster boards, pink hats, and raised fists were groups from Colorado, Alaska, Texas, Vermont, and other faraway states — including many from our own state, and, closer still, from one of our local colleges.

Two months ago, I began organizing a Western Connecticut State University trip to the Women’s March on Washington. Admittedly, I was unsure of just how many students and faculty would be willing to take on the task of a full day of traveling and participating. To my surprise, 47 students and faculty signed up for the trip and boarded a bus to the nation’s capital early Saturday morning. Steadfast in our dedication to be peaceful and respectful, we sought inspiration from Michelle Obama’s words: “When they go low, we go high.”

In the 10 hours spent in Washington, I listened as Gloria Steinem urged us to “put our bodies where our beliefs are,” I watched mothers carry their children for miles without complaint, and I witnessed fellow students become overwhelmed with emotion beside me.

“My favorite happening at the march was the outpour of people who wholeheartedly stood with me as a black female,” Alexia Smith, a 20-year-old Western student said. “There were so many people there standing with the Black Lives Matter movement, the LGBTQIA community, and the women’s rights movement. It gave me so much hope, and I felt so accepted instead of just tolerated.”

Other students, like senior Leah Donohue, 27, experienced their first feelings of hope for the future since Election Day. “I think it’s easy to feel like change is hopeless, but seeing so many people show up in solidarity was really inspiring,” she said.

Alternatively, I noticed a tendency in others to ponder if the Women’s March would “do anything.” I was first asked this by a fellow student while promoting the trip last week on campus. In the middle of the D.C. crowd, I was sitting on the steps outside of the Smithsonian American Indian Museum when I overheard the question being asked in a conversation nearby.

Instinctively, my first answer was that the Women’s March will send a message to the current administration: We are watching. We will not let you do this. The Women’s March was an opportunity for millions of people to voice their concerns in the hopes that they will be heard.

Now, my answer has slightly changed.

Yes, we made history. Yes, the words spoken and chanted and sung were poignant. However, the Women’s March does not end at the ellipse of the White House or in front of the Connecticut State Capitol Building. The March was an incredible first step, but it is the steps that are taken in the years ahead of us that matter the most.

How do we march ahead? By staying involved — from keeping the conversation going to standing up every time our rights or the rights of others are challenged.

“Contact state legislators, volunteer, vote in the midterms. Fight fascism and support journalists. We need honest journalism now more than ever,” Donohue said.

Smith offered a similar testimony. “We desperately need honest journalism, fact-based reporting, and unbiased governing officials. We need to place honest and true officials in charge and teach ourselves, as well as our children, how to create a world for everyone to thrive in. We need to reclaim our power as ‘the people’ and work to be a country to look up to.”

Kristen Hinz, of New Milford, is a senior at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.